2023 - Prius or Prime - spare tire?

LOL
1/2 of 1% maybe.

 

And that’s why supplied spares are being dropped. As long as customers are complacent, the trend will continue.

 

I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know why everybody is freaking out about losing a spare tire. It's actually very dangerous nowadays to get out of your car on a highway (particularly if you are on the traffic side) and try to work on your car. Pretty much all company car policies forbid it. The few catastrophic flats that occur while on a highway should probably be remedied by a tow or service person. Lots of flats will be noticed when parking. Those are not catastrophic and will likely be temporarily solved with the kit.

If you feel REALLY nervous about flat tires, lean on the Toyota Roadside assistance. Then when that runs out, get AAA, AARP, or some other service. PLUS, many auto insurance companies offer low-cost roadside assistance programs.

Honestly, unless you're particularly adventurous, repairing your car on the side of the highway is a thing of the past. And if you're a woman...... (can't say more lest I be struck down by the PC Police). It's just not safe.

Tire Sealant Review | Flat Tires - Consumer Reports

Also, some memberships offer complimentary roadside assistance. Costco? You can find plans as low as $30 a year if necessary. Otherwise, enjoy the benefits of not lugging around a spare tire and jack for what might be a one-time occurrence during the time you own your car. I've had plenty of slow leaks in my lifetime, but never a catastrophic blowout/flat. I don't think it's common - particularly, if you keep your tires inflated properly and watch for bulging.

 

I've had five flats in 30 years of driving. Two were punctures and were repaired with patch & plugs. One was a valve that I accidentally stepped on when I was reaching into the back of the truck I had. One was a blow out on the highway with my Jeep and one was a tear in a sidewall when I drove over some hidden debris. The blow out was over 20 years ago and tires have improved a lot since then. That's over about 2 million km in driving.

 

I change my wipers and the cabin and engine filters…that’s it. I leave the gas pumping, tire checks and repairs to the guys unless I’m running low on oil. Chemical sensitivities.

The last time I had a flat it was scary watching AAA put the spare on. Flares are helpful but people don’t pay attention anymore. I’m constantly coming to a stop when trying to enter highway because people don’t switch lanes.

 

Locked in the part numbers(and prices) for a couple more of the needed parts today, and found a few new needed parts on top of those.

Code:

$102.13 - 42611-21280 - Wheel, Disc                spare wheel
$121.05 - 64997-47100 - Box, Deck Floor, LH        left white foam box
$197.07 - 64995-47080 - Box, Deck Floor, RH        right white foam box
$ 17.18 - 51931-10040 - Carrier, Spare Wheel, RH   bolt that holds down wheel
$xxx.xx - 64778-xxxxx - Cushion                    foam pad the wheel sits on
$xxx.xx - 51978-xxxxx - Bracket                    steel bracket 
$  1.29 - 90179-06274 - Nut(3)                     nuts to hold down the bracket
$105.00 - T145/90D16  - Tire                       spare tire

Current total price for OEM spare tire install with typical 31% discount on Toyota MSRP:
$409.50

I hope to find out the specifics of the cushion and bracket tomorrow.

 

Ouch. That foam piece on the bottom is expensive enough. Just about $200 MSRP. I couldn't update the list in my previous post anymore, so I'll repeat it below. I believe it is now complete. Granted that most of the list is not available for order yet(if ever), but at least we now have the full recipe for an OEM install.

Code:

$102.13 - 42611-21280 - Wheel, Disc                spare wheel
$121.05 - 64997-47100 - Box, Deck Floor, LH        left white foam insert
$197.07 - 64995-47080 - Box, Deck Floor, RH        right white foam insert
$ 17.18 - 51931-10040 - Carrier, Spare Wheel, RH   bolt that holds down wheel
$197.07 - 64778-47090 - Protector, Spare Wheel     foam pad the wheel sits on
$ 45.86 - 51978-47010 - Protector, Spare Wheel     steel bracket the bolt fastens to
$  1.29 - 90179-06274 - Nut(3)                     nuts to hold down the bracket
$105.00 - T145/90D16  - Tire                       spare tire

Total comes to roughly $580+tax as long as you search out dealers with good discounts.

 

So, the factory spare (donut) is $105? That's not bad at all. Might just throw one of those in a bag and tuck it behind the driver's seat! get a small scissors jack and tire tool and call it good.

 

That's just the tire itself; you'd still need the wheel to go with it. So about $175* for those two combined. But you did remind me that I have to add tools to the list.

*Option 2 is to find a complete matching wheel and tire from a salvage yard or eBay. You're taking a couple small chances going that way, but you might be able to get a full donut for around a hundred.

 

Ok here I go with some questions. Anatomy of a wheel…tire, rim, barrel? If you hit a pot hole and damage the tire and rim is the barrel typically damaged too? What would be needed for AAA to handle this type of repair…spare tire and rim or a tire and new wheel including rim? If rim isn’t damaged do you just need a tire?

I was initially thinking I just needed a tire but it sounds like I would need tire and wheel, right? Probably easiest to just get car towed. Thanks

 

While there are technically three-part wheels out there that are made up of a wheel, rim, and tire, those generally only exist in racing and serious off-road rigs. For the rest of us regular mortals, all wheels are just made up of the metal wheel and the rubber tire. In this context, wheel and rim are the exact same thing; one object with two names.

There's no reason you would ever just buy the tire alone for the purpose of having a spare. A towing service would not be able to mount a tire in the field(mounting is what it's called when you put the rubber tire on the metal wheel). They'll certainly change a spare for you(the wheel/tire combo), but you'll need the complete spare ready to go when they get there.

Maybe I've been adding to the confusion a bit in the shopping list because I list the wheel and tire separately, but that's how you have to buy them. If you order the spare wheel from Toyota, all you're going to get is the metal part. If you order the spare tire from TireRack or wherever, all you're going to get is the rubber part. You need both to have a complete spare.

Spare vs. just towing:
There's not just one right answer to this. It's going to depend on a person's situation. How do they use their car. How many cars do they have. Do they work from home. Does their community have public transportation. Are they living in an urban, suburban, or rural area. Do they have resources for a rental car or taxis/ubers.

My way of thinking on the topic is: A car with a flat tire and no spare is immobile and useless until the tire is fixed/replaced at a dealership/tire shop. A car with a flat tire and a spare will become a functioning vehicle again once the tire is changed.

After I take possession of my new Prius in a few days, I will become a one-vehicle household in a suburban/rural area. To function in my area, you really need a vehicle(minimal taxis, no uber/lyft, no public transit, everything's very spread out). Because I'm going to have a donut spare, I'm going to be able to be mobile even after a flat. I'll be speed and distance restricted until the tire is fixed/replaced, but at least I'll be able to get around. This is especially true because I'm certain it will take the better part of a week to get a replacement tire or set of tires delivered if the old tire is unfixable(because of the new gen5 tire sizes). Now if I worked from home and lived in a dense community with great public transit, then keeping my Prius mobile wouldn't be that important. Same thing if I had a spare vehicle to use while the Prius was being fixed.

But even if I have a flat and don't change the tire on the road myself and call Toyota/AAA to do it for me, the time savings will be immense. If I don't have a spare, the tow truck will have to show up, hook up the car safely(hopefully doing no damage to it in the process), then I'll have to jump into the tow truck cab as we drive to a dealership or tire shop, then I either have to wait for the tire to be fixed or arrange alternate transport until the work can be done or the new tire arrives. If I have a spare, then the tow truck arrives, they use their jack and impact wrench to quickly swap tires, then I sign some stuff and I'm on my way. Honestly, the paperwork will likely take longer than the tire swap. If I was going to work or a meeting or shopping, I'd be a half hour or hour late, but my day would be able to continue rather normally and I could take care of the flat tire at my convenience. And I'd still have a (mostly) functioning vehicle in the meantime.

Simple version again:
flat + no spare = car becomes a useless hunk of metal and plastic until the tire is fixed or a new tire is fitted at a shop
flat + spare + 10min to swap them = reasonably functioning vehicle


Donut(compact spare) vs. full-sized spare:
Again, no single right answer. Depends on your situation. A compact spare should never be driven over 50mph and really shouldn't be driven more than 50 miles. So if you are rarely more than 50 miles away from home or your dealership/tire store, the donut should be fine. If you are out in the boonies, or you are often travelling far from home, then the full-size spare might be more worthwhile. The condition of the roads also plays a factor. If you are typically driving on minimally improved roads(dirt and gravel), then driving on a donut might be dangerous. But if 100% of your driving is on ordinary paved roads in reasonably good condition, then the donut will be fine. Finally, the full-sized spare is going to take up a bunch more room. If you really want the spare to be tucked away under the floor so you can use the entire floor for cargo, then you really need the donut. But if the spare is the only thing that will ever be back there, then the larger size of the full spare doesn't matter.

 

Thank you for taking the time to spell all of this out. I have similar circumstances. One car, by myself, no public transportation. Tire store 30 mins away and dealership 20 mins. Not easy finding a ride. Service manager drove me home once. : / I wasn’t even thinking about the fact that the tire would need to be ordered due to the unusual size although my tires always need to be ordered because I typically get something the tire store doesn’t carry.

I haven’t been anywhere in a long time. Would at least like to take some road trips. June 18th I’m heading to PA from CT to a workshop. 500 miles. I managed to find someone in NJ who is also going so I’ll be riding with her otherwise I would be very nervous with my old car. I know what to do if car breaks down but wouldn’t want to miss the workshop because of this. Prius has been inspected and ironically one of my tires just had a slow leak and needed a new sensor. During this tire store visit I heard that someone was dealing with the fact that they ordered tires from online that had 2005 date on them. Yikes!

I can still remember being stranded on a rural highway in the rain at the age of 16. No phones back then. Running in my Mercy HS uniform to the next exit to find help.

More decisions to make. Damn I wish I had said yes to that 2022 XLE AWD.

 

The AWD versions never had a spare.

If you want a car with a spare, I would look for one that comes with it. A decade ago that was easy with Toyota, but not now.

 

TireRack sells both tires and wheels, and will mount them for you when purchased together. Never looked into whether they have spare wheels on the site, but would be easy to check.

Most flats are repairable, and the goo isn't the only option. Plug kits are easy to come by and inexpensive(splurge for the T handle tools). More effort to use than the goo pump, but won't risk the TPMS sensor nor wheel balance. The package says it's temporary, but I'm not the only one than has rode for years on a plug without issue.

It does take some physical effort to push the plug into a hole. Being able to take the wheel off to get leverage makes the process easier. Also for simply finding the leak. There are a few tools needed with the basic plug kit; pliers(to pull out any nails or whatnot), box cutter(to trim the plug), and some way to inflate the tire after the repair. Having a pair of disposable or work gloves, and little bottle of soapy water for leak finding doesn't hurt.

 

Many manufacturers are dropping the spare because there is less need for them and there is a fuel savings to not having one.
We fortunately have a second vehicle so I'm less concerned plus we rarely go outside of cell service.

 

I'm a little more cynical.

I'm finally going to replace our snow tire set this fall; they've been in use since November of 2010. I plugged repaired one of those tires in the winter of 2012~2013, stood the test of time. I went with the BlackJack kit, very complete, and has a nice durable carrying case.

 

Sorry I wasn’t clear… I didn’t mean because of the spare tire. I know 2022 doesn’t come with one. It’s more about the easier access to a 17 inch tire/wheel and other more comfortable features.

 

https://ez-sparewheel.com/products/17-ez-spare-wheel-125-80r17?vehicle=2023%20Toyota%20Prius%20(All%20Submodels)

 

Great…it’s even a nice pretty red! I meant to say above that the 2022 doesn’t come with one. I corrected this. : }

 

The spare alone may not seem like a lot of weight, but the manufacturers are doing what ecomodders and racers do; cutting a little bit of weight here and there. That starts adding up.

It isn't just deleting the spare. It's deleting the rear wiper, using an electric parking brake, using plastic instead of metal for the intake, replacing other steel parts with lighter weight metals and materials, etc.